Thursday, September 3, 2009

Bowling Green Hot Rods Beat Greenville Drive 7-3

Bowling Green Hot Rods[Via email from the Bowling Green Hot Rods' broadcaster Tom Gauthier.]

Anthony Scelfo homered and drove in four runs to lead the Hot Rods (30-33, 64-69) past the Greenville Drive, 7-3, on Wednesday night. The Hot Rods center fielder now has five hits in the series, as Bowling Green and Greenville (30-35, 69-64) have split the first two games. The win snaps the Hot Rods three-game losing streak, giving them a chance to win the series—this three-game series and the 13-game season series—on Thursday night.

Scelfo began his night with the first of this three hits to lead off the game. While he was stranded in the first inning, he and the Hot Rods did not make the same mistake in the second.

The first to men of the inning reached on a walk and a single. John Mollicone then produced an RBI groundout to give the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead. Two batters later Scelfo picked up his second hit of the game with a single to right, plating another run. Two batters after that Jake Jefferies singled to center to score Scelfo for a 3-0 lead.

After Greenville scored in their half of the second, the Hot Rods got another run right back in the third. Isaias Velasquez led off with a walk, stole his way to third, and then scored on a single by Mollicone, who picked up his second RBI of the night. Two batters later Scelfo nearly struck again, crushing one to center field that was tracked down with a leaping catch by Jeremy Hazelbaker.

Greenville scored another run in the fourth to cut the lead to 4-2, but the Drive made a mistake in the fifth and Scelfo made them pay. With two outs and a man at first, Jeremy Beckham hit a routine grounder to shortstop that was misplayed by Casey Kelly for an error. Scelfo came up next and promptly jacked one over the Green(ville) Monster for his eighth home run over the season, giving the Hot Rods a 7-2 lead.

Scelfo finished the game 3-5 with four RBI, giving him a total of five hits in the series. He is hitting .341 (14-41) with two home runs and six RBI in ten games against Greenville pitching. Overall, in his last five games Scelfo is hitting 10-21 (.476) with a pair of three-hit games.

Despite a shaky start by Micheal Jarman, who made his first start since May 31, Hot Rods pitching was able to hold the Drive down through the first few frames. Greenville had the lead-off man on in each of the first four innings but could only get two runs against Jarman. The lefty gave up just two hits but walked a career-high five. He gave way to Tyree Hayes (7-4), who allowed an inherited runner to score in the fourth before settling in to throw 2.2 scoreless, earning his seventh win of the season.

Hayes gave way to Jairo De La Rose, who made his Hot Rods debut after being called up from Princeton in the Appalachian League on Tuesday. The converted shortstop worked 1.1 innings in his Hot Rods debut, allowing one run on two hits. He turned it over to Neil Schenk, who worked the final two outs to lock down the win.

The Hot Rods now play their final road game of the season on Thursday night at Fluor Field. LHP Matt Moore (8-5, 3.10) makes his final start of the year against Greenville RHP Stolmy Pimentel (10-7, 3.59). First pitch is at 6:05 PM CDT. You can follow the game on the radio beginning at 5:50 PM with Tom Gauthier on 1340 WBGN and www.bghotrods.com.

The Hot Rods return home for their final home stand on Friday night against the Lexington Legends (Houston Astros), the final meeting with the Bluegrass rivals. Friday night is Faith and Family Night presented by Christian Family Radio. For a complete list of Friday’s events as well as tickets and a full promotional schedule, visit www.bghotrods.com.

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